Israel Launches Ground Invasion of Gaza

Smoke from flares rises in the sky in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip on July 17, 2014

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip Thursday along with heavy air bombardment, according to a statement on his Facebook page. Netanyahu’s statement indicates the purpose of the operation is to destroy “terror tunnels” linking Gaza and Israel.

“The Prime Minister and Minister of Defense instructed the [Israeli Defense Forces] to open this evening the ground operation to harm terror tunnels penetrating the Gaza Strip into Israel,” the post reads, translated from Hebrew. “Hamas terrorists used such a tunnel of terror early this morning to infiltrate Israel, with the purpose of carrying out mass attacks against Israeli civilians.”

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) also posted the news about “Operation Protective Edge” on its official Twitter account:

BREAKING NEWS: A large IDF force has just launched a ground operation in the Gaza Strip. A new phase of Operation Protective Edge has begun.